All I want for Christmas is you, Knucklehead!
by Midnightshadow001
Summary: Rouge still needed to get presents, buy a tree, help Amy set up for her party, and stop thinking about that echidna! What she didn't know was that her holidays were gonna be a blast...if she could live through the chaos first! Rouge x Knuckles Knouge
1. Beginning the Holidays

"AH-ACHOO!"  
Things sucked. Was it _even possible_ for bats to get colds?

"ACHOO!"

Only humans got colds, right? And the last time she checked…still not human!  
So why was she stuck with a cold? _Why was she stuck in bed?_

"Urrrrrghh…" The sniffling ivory bat grabbed another tissue.

"Good morning, America! This is POP101 with your favorite songs from then and now! To kick things off, let's put on an old classic to make the grouches smile for the holidays!"

Where was a hammer when you need one?

As Rouge tried to find a heavy object nearby to smash her unsuspecting alarm clock to bits, a jingly Christmas carol began. She groaned and rolled away from her radio clock and clamped her pillow on her ears to drown out whatever music was playing.

Why would she want to listen to a Christmas carol when everything was going all wrong?

She was snowed in with _a cold_, while she had to go set up lights in front of Cream's house in a couple days (after being volunteered by Amy), go get presents for everyone, help Amy set up her holiday party, wrap those presents, go to work, go be Santa's elf at the mall (the Santa here being Sonic, because he didn't want to go it alone), practice cooking a turkey, shovel her walkway, buy new boots, get over a cold, regain her voice, and stop thinking about Knuckles the Echidna.

…Seriously.

…They wanted_ her_ to cook a turkey?

"ACHOO!"

It seemed as if this Christmas wasn't gonna go her way. She couldn't even complain about anything because she lost her voice.  
Not that there was anyone to complain to. She was currently snowed in her house.

Everyone was.

"Bah, humbug! No that's too strong 'Cause it is my favorite holiday. But all this year's been a busy blur, don't think I have the energy-" The radio sang. Rouge sighed, pulled off her pillow and sat up.

This song didn't seem so bad. Kinda relative to her life. She did _love _the holidays, but this year things just weren't happing…And her year? Blurrier than a blur! This year went by so fast all Rouge could remember was coffee and work! _"And as for energy, with this cold, I'm surprised I have any left to get out of bed, much less than celebrate the holidays!"_  
For the first time this winter, Rouge smiled. Finally, a song that understood her and her holiday issues!

"-Encounter, most interesting. Had his number but never the time, Most of '81 passed along those lines-"

"_Come to think of it,"_ Rouge pondered as she got up to change, _"I was so busy with work I get to visit Knuckles very much this year…" _Not that she cared. She didn't like the echidna!

"-So deck those halls, trim those trees! Raise up cups of Christmas cheer! I just need to catch my breath; Christmas by myself this year-"

"_Christmas by myself…doesn't sound too bad…"_ But then again, if she spent Christmas alone, Amy would freak out at her for not attending the holiday party, not to mention she'd miss out on seeing Knuck-

She didn't like the echidna! Geez, Rouge, stop thinking of him!

Rouge shook the thoughts out of her jumbled mind and pulled on her clothes.

"-Merry Christmas, but I think I'll miss this one this year! Hardly dashing through the snow 'cause I've bundled up too tight! Last minute have-to-do's, a few cards, a few calls, 'cause it's r-s-v-p! No thanks, no party lights! It's Christmas Eve, gonna relax, turned down all of my invites!" The more that radio sang, the more sense it was making. She was happy she didn't crush it.

Really, missing Christmas? Letting her stress dissolve? Just relax by the fireplace with her jewels?

Why didn't she think of that earlier?

Oh right. Her friends would be mad at her.

"-Forget it, it's cold, it's getting late. Trudge on home to celebrate! In a quiet way, unwind…Doin' Christmas right this time!-"

Yeah, Rouge wanted to do Christmas her way! No worrying about presents and parties and dressing like an elf and dealing with colds and clearing walkways and cooking turkeys.  
She should do it her way! Just get a bag of chips and a bottle of Mountain Dew, and settle in her house by the Christmas tree and watch sappy romance movies.

And get slammed in the head by Amy's hammer the next day for not going to the party.

Why was the weight of everyone's problems on her? Almost all of her friends wanted her to a favor for them while she was having her own personal issues! Well, the sooner she got everything done, the sooner her holidays would get better.

She finally got her coat, scarf, boots, and gloves on. Grabbing a bunch of tissues, the bat stuffed them into her pocket and grabbed her purse. With the way it was snowing outside, she might not even be able to get back in her house. After turning off her alarm, Rouge yanked opened the door and lost herself in the whiteout.

…

"Happy Holidays!" A saleswoman shouted cheerfully as Rouge sought refuge in the mall from the freezing cold outside. She sniffled and wiped her nose as the sight of huge crowds mobbing the numerous stores came into view. "Great, this is gonna take longer than I thought…"

Rouge shook off the cold as she began her mission in the mall. First was Amy's present! Passing by the numerous shoppers who were in a rush to get holiday gifts, Rouge mulled over Sonic's problem. "The Blue Blur doesn't even know what to get his girl for Christmas…I wish they'd just go out already; that way I wouldn't have to do shopping for other people…" Although now that she thought of it, getting Amy a piece of lingerie from Victoria's Secret and telling her it was from Sonic would certainly brighten up Rouge's holiday. That would've been funny!  
"But Sonic and I are on good terms. Blue boy's only problem is that he doesn't know the first thing about buying things for girls." A smile crept onto Rouge face as she walked into Delia's and proceeded to find a cute T-shirt for Amy. Last time, if she remembered correctly, Sonic got Rouge a coffee maker.

Well, maybe it was a great present, but the only reason he got her that was because he broke her last one! Otherwise, what would he have gotten her? Probably dish soap or something crazy like that.  
Yeah, Sonic had no idea when it came to women. At least Knuckles got her something nice. It was a gift card to Starbucks, which she knew she'd use since she ate, breathed, and slept coffee.

Rouge pulled a cute hot pink t-shirt off of one of the racks. It had silver sequins spelling out 'Princess' across the top, with a crown below it. "Hmm…now for some matching earrings…" She plucked two silver earrings off of a display and gazed at them. They were crowns; a nice match to her shirt.

One down, fifty million to go.

"Hi, did you find everything you were lookin' for today? Just to let you know we have fifty percent off on your second purchase if your first one is over sixty dollars." The teen at the register smiled cheerfully at her before ringing up the items. Rouge wanted to get Amy a gift card, but she couldn't even talk! How was she gonna do this?

"Excuse me…" Ouch! She sounded pained and voiceless; in fact, she said it so softly it was a wonder the girl heard her.

"Hmm?" You know what? Forget talking. Rouge simply pulled a gift card off of one of the displays in front of her and slapped it down on the counter, along with fifty dollars.

"You want a fifty dollar gift card?" The girl asked uneasily? Rouge batted her eyelashes to calm down her impatience and nodded.

"Umm…well then, that's fifty nine dollars and ninety eight cents for the shirt and the earrings."  
Really? Really? She was two cents away from getting half off on the earrings?

Whatever. She was just gonna buy the presents and get out of there. Rouge let out a breath to cool off her stress and annoyance as the teen handed her the bag, and in a flash she zoomed out of there.

"Time to get everyone else a present…"

Time flew as Rouge grabbed a caramel frappucino from Starbucks and traveled to the different stores in the mall trying to get everyone a present. Pretty soon it was 1 PM and the only person left on her list was…

Knuckles.

"I don't want to think about think about him!" Rouge thought stubbornly. There was no way she was gonna spend her hard earned holiday brooding over how Knuckles would never love her…

N-Not that she cared! She didn't like him! She. Did. Not. Like. Him. End of story!

But…well…she couldn't just go to Amy's party with a present for everyone but him…it would be rude! Unlike a certain red echidna, this lady had manners!

"Well, what am I gonna get him…? Ooh, a watch sounds good…maybe then he can remember to show up to the holiday parties on time!" She kept a smile on her face, pleased with her idea, and walked into JCPenney. The displays were decorated with jewelry and whatnot, causing Rouge's blue eyes to dazzle.

"Oh, it's so pretty! Having these would make my holidays great!" She bounded over to a glass case containing some nice gold watches (well, not totally gold, but it looked like it). As she scanned over the price, she suddenly felt an invisible weight hit her head.

"Fifty dollars? That's all I have left for presents! Fifty dollars for a watch?" Even though she could probably sneak in the mall at night and take it, she didn't want to. She had been doing that all year as a part of her job, and she just wanted to refrain from doing anything that reminded her of her work.

"I just don't wanna go through all the trouble…well, I guess I'll get the watch…"

Another saleswoman approached Rouge, and before long, she had only ten cents and a piece of mint gum left in her purse.

Her arms, on the other hand, were loaded with bags.

"Urgh!" Her voiceless grunt pierced the air as she tried to carry all of the heavy bags. All she wanted to do now was go to Bath and Body Works, Sephora, and maybe Deb's, just to get an idea of what she wanted to get herself for Christmas.

Isn't that sad? She was buying and wrapping her own presents this year! Whatever. She would need a long vacation in the Caribbean after this Christmas party.

Off she went to Bath and Body works, examining all of the nice fragrances and body washes she wanted, and then to Deb's, where she scoped out cute dresses to wear to Amy's party. Finally it was Sephora for her make up, and as soon as she walked in a red headed saleslady greeted her warmly, "Hello Rouge! Come to get your regular cosmetics, or do you wanna try something new for the holidays?"  
Rouge shrugged. Some new stuff would be nice. She had been in Sephora so many times for her makeup they knew her there, and dubbed her a 'regular'. What a surprise; they call her that at Starbucks too!

Rouge walked around and gazed at all of the eye shadows and lip-glosses and eyeliners longingly. Ever had that feeling of wanting to buy something but knowing you can't because you spent all of your money on other people? That was what she felt right now!

"Ooh, if only I had a couple hundred dollars! Then I could go on a shopping spree and really celebrate this holiday my way!" She bit her lip and sighed sadly, lowering her blue gaze. Maybe if she hinted at her friends, they could get her all of these things…

Nah. It wouldn't be the same as letting loose on a shopping spree.

"Hey Rouge," The red head whispered with uncertainty, "Isn't that your boyfriend?"

What?

No. Oh no. Oh. No.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she flapped her wings a bit to peek over the aisles.

And there he was at the counter. The one person she didn't want to think about.  
Knuckles the Echidna was in Sephora.

Wait.

Knuckles the Echidna was in Sephora!

Rouge didn't know whether or not to crack up in voiceless laughs or hide behind a shelf of makeup.

…Hey! He was not her boyfriend!  
Rouge turned to the redhead, only to see that she wasn't there. Her eyes gre wide in shock. What if…?  
She peeked over again.

SHE WAS TALKING TO KNUCKLES AND POINTING AT HER!

"Noooo! I don't wanna see Knuckie right now! I can't even speak to him!"

"GAH! Rouge!" Her body was electrified as she wheeled around and stared at him in silent shock. She attempted to put on her seductive smile, but it wasn't working. Why was he in Sephora? And was that a gift card in his hand?

"What are you doing here, Bat-girl?" Knuckles asked. Rouge rolled her eyes. Leave it to him to get all defensive. She put her hands on her hips as best as she could since the bags were sliding down her arms and looked at him expectantly, as if to say, "I should be asking you that question, Knuckie."

"U-uhm…" Knuckles, understanding her look, began stuttering, "I-I was getting a…um…p-present! A present! For a friend of mine!"  
Hmm, a gift card to Sephora? Could be a girl…not that Rouge cared. Instead she scowled, causing him to wear a small smirk.

"It's not for you, if that's what you think. Why would I spend my money on a present for you?" The moment those words left his lips, however, he regretted them. Rouge was awfully silent, and she heaved a big sigh before walking past him to leave.

She spent the rest of her money on this guy, and he tells her he wasn't using a dime on a present for her. Wow, just what she needed for the holidays!

"Wait, Rouge!" Knuckles didn't understand why she wasn't saying a word to him! Did he say something to make her mad? The sick bat spun around, only to hear Knuckles ask, "What's wrong with you? Why are you so quiet?" Hmm, well, maybe it's because she lost her voice!

Rouge scoffed and was about to turn away when Knuckles spoke, "Fine, don't talk to me! Why should I care?"

At this point, she snapped.

Rouge spun around and yelled, "I lost my voice smart one!" But her voice came out as just a harsh, painful whisper, causing her to cringe and rub her throat. Knuckles, on the other hand, wore a look of surprise. Was she sick?

"Bat-girl…?"  
The words never reached her ears, for she ran out of the store and out of the mall, heavy shopping bags in tow.

…

"ACHOO!" She sneezed as she trekked through the knee-high snow. Today was not a good day for her. Well, only fourteen days until Christmas! Then she could start planning her Caribbean trip. All she could see was snow falling all around like a heavy storm, and wind whipping against her face. Everything was just so white…

"I wish I could fly…" Rouge glanced at the bags that weighed her down, and then squinted up ahead to see the faint glow of a traffic light. She was almost home…

"AH!" Though her voice still wasn't coming out, a bunch of snow flew over her like a wave, and as she shook it off, she heard a voice call out behind her.

"Rouge?"  
Slowly she rotated and peered into the white storm, only to see a dark figure approaching her.

"What are you doing out here?" It was…Shadow? Rouge simply stayed silent, but upon inspection Shadow understood what was going on.

"Give me your bags." Rouge blinked at him, not quite understanding what he meant, but soon he grabbed her belongings and murmured, "Which way is your home?"  
Rouge pointed toward the streetlight.

"Let's go."

…

"BAM!"  
The door to Rouge's house flew open and hit the wall as Rouge and Shadow entered. Snow blew into her house, causing gusts of cold wind to reach every corner of the living room. Rouge, with some effort, pushed the door shut while Shadow plopped all of the belongings on the ground and turned to the bat.

"Are you sick?"  
Rouge nodded, then motioned for her throat. Shadow blinked.

"You lost your voice."  
Rouge nodded again and went to put her bags away. Shadow simply watched her for a moment before asking, "Why did you go out while you were sick?" Rouge said nothing, but she pointed to the day circled on the calendar by her couch?

"Christmas…so you got presents for everyone?"  
Rouge smiled. There was no way she was gonna let him see his present ahead of time, if that was what he was thinking.

"Rouge…can I ask a question?" Rouge looked up at him. Shadow seemed to stand with an awkward look on his face, as if he thought Rouge was going to laugh at him. She motioned for him to ask, to which he took a deep breath.

"Teach me how to wrap presents."

"…_Excuse me? Shadow the Hedgehog, the 'Ultimate Life Form', doesn't know how to wrap presents?"  
_If she had her voice, then her looks of glee and the tears pricking the corner of her eyes would've been followed by booming laughter.

"Rouge…Rouge! It's not funny!" Shadow growled as she wiped tears away. She calmed herself down and walked into the kitchen, to which Shadow followed.

"What are you doing?"  
Rouge filled a kettle with water and set it on the stove to boil, and then picked up a box and pointed at it.

"Cocoa?"  
Rouge looked at him for an answer. Shadow simply nodded.  
After pulling out two packets from the box, Rouge returned to the living room and pulled out a roll of shiny green wrapping paper and a bag with bows, nametags, tape, ribbons, and all kinds of other things inside. Shadow's eye twitched.

This was gonna be hard.

…

"Hey…I did it."

Rouge looked up from the present she was wrapping (leg warmers for Sonic as a joke), and saw that Shadow successfully wrapped the t-shirt for Amy, which Rouge had put in a box. _"Well, after watching me wrap for hours, he must know how to do it now."_ Rouge smirked as she saw the pink ribbon that tied it up and dangled off of the top, and the neat folding he did compared to the first one, which looked like he had slapped paper and tape on haphazardly, stuck a bow on, and called it a present.

"Now what?" Shadow noticed Rouge's approval, and after inspecting the present she handed him a nametag. He stuck it on and began writing, 'To: Amy, From: Sha-'

"Oh."  
Rouge looked up. What did he do?

"I began to write 'From: Shadow'…" He blinked and handed the present for Rouge to see, and after a moment she grabbed the pen and scribbled something on. Shadow got the present back only to see it said, 'To: Amy, From: Shadow and Rouge.'

"I didn't buy this for her." Shadow said. Rouge rolled her eyes and looked around to find a nearby note pad. She grabbed one off of her coffee table and wrote, "You wrapped it, so we'll say it's from both of us."

"Oh." Shadow managed to say. He looked around to see that all the presents (except his) were wrapped. Rouge had put his present aside so he wouldn't see it; as if she'd let him peek!

"I…I should leave. Thank you, Rouge." What? Why was he leaving so early?

Shadow got up and opened the door.

"AH!"  
Rouge shot up only to see that a huge pile of snow fell upon him. It was a crazy whiteout outside, so there was no way Shadow would be able to go home. She pulled Shadow out of the snow pile and both of them slammed the door and locked it.

"So…" Shadow began, but Rouge frantically wrote something on a piece of paper, shoved it in his hands, and dashed off to the kitchen to turn off the stove.

"You're just gonna have to stay with me, cutie! Don't open the door again. I have a guest room by the way, so don't worry." Shadow blushed after reading it aloud and shrugged. Rouge wasn't that bad, so he wouldn't mind staying until the storm blew over. Heh, Sonic would be jealous that his wrapping skills weren't as awesome as Shadow's was right now.

Rouge came in with two mugs of hot chocolate and handed one to Shadow.

"Thank you. I will leave tomorrow." Rouge waved her hand around to say, 'Whatever,' and they both proceeded to sit down side by side on the couch, and Rouge flipped on the TV.

Well, her day got better. Here she was, in a quiet room with low lights watching 'Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!' and drinking cocoa with her friend Shadow, the only one of her friends that she knew wouldn't drive her crazy before Christmas. As she and Shadow continued watching Christmas movies, like 'The Grinch,' and 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,' Rouge found herself falling asleep, her head somewhat resting on a drowsy Shadow's shoulder.

"_Maybe the holidays won't be so bad…"_ Rouge thought as she slipped away into dreamland.

Or maybe, as the next day proved to her, chaos was going to explode and she would want to change her name, put on a moustache, and move to the Caribbean.

…

**Author's note: Hey everyone! This is one looooong chapter; I should make my chapters shorter. This is a Christmas fic! And don't worry, it's Knouge or KnucklesxRouge. Anyways, I feel like the holidays are going insane for not only me but some of the people around me, so I wanted to write this. I should be posting a chapter a day until Christmas, so I hope you stick along and if you have any questions, just ask! This is dedicated to my late uncle, God rest his soul.**


	2. Sonic's Rumors!

Something tickled.

Rouge crinkled her nose unconsciously and tried to swat it away as she began awakening from her sleep.

It _still tickled._

The swatting was not working. Rouge sleepily opened one eye.

"What the…?"

It hovered just above her like a miniature spy.

"!"  
Rouge was definitely regaining her voice today.

"BAM!" She toppled over on the floor in her frenzy to get away from it. Her door was practically thrown off of its hinges as Shadow rushed in to see what was going on.

"What is it?" Eggman? An evil robot? A giant monster? Well, the last one was close, but Shadow didn't see one anywhere.

"S-s-s-SPIDER!" Rouge pointed at the arachnid, which was foaming at the mouth and playing 'mission impossible' on some silk, due to the fact that it tried to land on Rouge's nose.

"Um…Rouge…it's just a spider."

"It's not _just_ a spider, Shadow!" Rouge replied in irritation, though she was relieved to have her voice back, "It's a spider that's foaming at the mouth and trying to land on my face _first thing in the morning!"_

"…Well," Shadow walked over with a tissue from Rouge's nightstand, and caught the spider, "Maybe if you kissed it, it would turn into Knuckles."

"Oh, just go throw that spider away!" Besides, even if it did turn into Knuckles, there was _no way_ she would kiss something that was _foaming_.

Shadow tossed the spider in the trash and left so Rouge could change. She threw on her dark blue sweater and a pair of dark wash jeans, along with some fuzzy socks to keep her warm. "I wonder how much snow has piled up outside?" Rouge wondered aloud, "Well, at least I got my voice back!" She left her room and traveled to her living room, where Shadow had made two cups of coffee and set them on the coffee table.

"Good Morning there, Big Boy." Her voice came out a bit more seductive than she wanted, due to the fact that she was still half asleep.

"Yeah, what a great way to wake up," Shadow replied sarcastically, "To hear you yelling like there's no tomorrow and find out it's just a spider."

"Aw, but you saved me from that spider, didn't you? And then you made me coffee! What a hero! And I didn't even half to kiss that spider to find one!" She winked at him and then sat down to drink her coffee while Shadow blushed and dismissed it as just Rouge being Rouge.

"RIIIIIING!" The phone beside Shadow rang. He looked to Rouge, who gave him permission to pick it up.

That was a BIG mistake.

"Oh, um…Rouge's place, Shadow speaking."

Oh no. Rouge nearly dropped her cup of coffee as her eyes widened.

"Amy? Oh. You want to talk to Rouge? She's right here." Shadow, the poor, innocent person, handed Rouge the phone, who summoned up her courage and tried to smile.

"Hey Amy." Rouge sneezed and grabbed a tissue.

"Hey Amy?" Amy's voice began shaking with anger, "_Hey Amy? That's all you can say?"_

"Uh-um…Amy…uhm…look, it's not what you think-"

Everyone in Station Square could hear Amy scream.

"NOT WHAT I THINK? ROUGE THE BAT, WHAT IS SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG DOING AT YOUR HOUSE AT SEVEN IN THE MORNING?"

"AH! What did she say?" Shadow was blushing like crazy as Rouge pulled the phone away from her pained ear. Rouge glanced over at Shadow with a shocked look.

"Amy! Honey, calm down! Look, Shadow just helped me take my shopping bags home and he…er…we…," She didn't want to say he didn't know how to wrap presents, "He helped me wrap some presents and before we knew it we were snowed in! It's not what you think! He had to stay 'cuz he couldn't make it home in the blizzard!"

"Uh huh, right!" Was…Was that _Sonic?_

"Sonic? Wha-?"

"You're on speaker! Put us on speaker too!" Rouge pushed speaker and dropped the phone on the table.

"Amy! You're tellin' me off about Shadow being here when Sonic's over your place!" Rouge said in annoyance.

Amy piped up, "I invited him over for breakfast!"

"Hey is Shadow there?" Sonic asked.

"What is it faker?"

"Look at Shadow, talkin' big!" Sonic chuckled, "Guess it's because he went to second base with Rouge!"

"Shut up! There's nothing going on between us!" Shadow shouted.

"We're just friends!" Rouge added, "So the next time you make a comment like that Blue Boy it better be to my face!"

"You're just jealous Sonic because you know you can't even make it to first base with anyone!" Shadow smirked.

"Oh, haha! Let's see how jealous Knucklehead will be, Rouge!"

"_What?" _The bat turned bright red.

"That's riiiight!" Amy sang, "Wait till we tell Knuckles that Shadow stayed over your house last night!"

"We _didn't do anything!"_

"Right! We'll tell Knuckles you guys said hi!" The 'click' of the phone was heard, and Rouge and Shadow were left blushing like crazy.

"Oh no…" Rouge groaned and plopped down onto her seat.

"Forget about it Rouge. We'll tell them off later."

"I know…but…" Rouge didn't want Knuckles knowing. He was gullible enough to believe whatever Sonic and Amy would tell him!

"_He's gonna think Shadow and I…me and Shadow…Gah! Now what do I do?" _

Just what she needed. A rumor spreading around about her and Shadow!  
Even worse, a rumor that Knuckles would hear!  
Why was this December not going her way?

"_I'm gonna avoid him!" _Rouge thought. An image of Knuckles calling her a prostitute and walking away came into her mind.

At this point, she mentally freaked out.

"_AH! No, no, no, no, no, noooo! I'm not gonna see that Knucklehead! I'm gonna avoid him! That way I won't have to see him call me a…wait…when do I care about what he thinks? I don't! Maybe he'll even get jealous…hmm…he's cute when he's jealous!"_ Nonetheless, avoiding him would be the best idea. She didn't want to cause drama on top of _all that holiday stress!_

Shadow sat down next to her and took a sip of coffee. "I'll go outside and clear the walkway."

"I have a shovel in my coat closet. We can clear out the walkway together." Rouge and Shadow finished off their coffees and go up to go outside.

"See, there's a shovel here, and-" But as soon as she said that, Shadow had left. Rouge sighed and opened the door to see Shadow rolled up in a ball and zoomed up and down her walkway, sending snow flying everywhere.

"Sh-Shadow!" Rouge shouted as she tugged on her boots and gloves and headed outside. He stopped and stood in the now clear path and gave Rouge a smirk.

"How's that?"

"Not so bad, Big Boy. But you did get snow all over me." Rouge pointed at her outfit in annoyance.

"Oh…Sor-Oof!" A snowball pelted him in the head and he fell over.

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it, cutie!"

"Two can play at that game!" Shadow shouted as he bounced upon his heels and began throwing snowballs at her. The fight continued until a faint ringing was heard in her house.

"Wait! Shadow, stop for a second…Do you hear my phone ringing?"

"…Oh, yeah." Rouge sprinted into her house and picked up the phone before sneezing.

"Hello?" She grabbed a tissue as the voice spoke.

"Rouge?"

"Amy? What do you want?" It better not be another reason to make Knuckles angry.

"Look, today was the day when you were gonna go over Cream's house and help her set up the lights, remember?" Amy replied with a smile.

Rouge groaned. Seriously? Just when she was having fun too!

"Well, Sha-I mean, I got my walkway cleared out so I guess I can leave now."

"Great! See you there at eight!" Amy hung up.

Great. Just…great.

…

"Ding dong!"

"Oh, hey Knucklehead! What's up?" The red echidna growled in annoyance.

"Don't call me that. Now why did you invite me here?" Sonic laughed.

"You and I gotta get Amy a Christmas tree!" A smirk grew on Sonic's face, "And guess what I heard!"

"What?"

"Rouge slept with Shadow last night." A huge blush spread across Knuckles' face as he growled intensely. Rouge? She slept with who?

"How do you know this?" Knuckles' eyes seemed to be burning with anger, to which Sonic winked.

"Called her house. Shadow answered. Apparently he 'couldn't leave' because he was snowed in. I doubt it though." Boy, was it fun making Knuckles mad! The echidna looked ready to break something!

"_Then…when I saw her yesterday…she was dating Shadow? But she lost her voice, which was why she didn't talk to me…not because she was dating him…"_ The more Knuckles thought about it, the angrier he got. He wasn't jealous! Not at all! He was just…mad…that…no one told him! That's it! He was just mad that no one ever mentioned anything!

"And besides, I know you have a crush on her-"

"I DON'T LIKE HER!" Knuckles yelled so loud Sonic was blown backwards.

"Geez…" Sonic rubbed his head, "Someone's in denial! C'mon, we gotta go to Cream's place first to help set up the lights.".

"Whatever…" Knuckles crossed his arms and mumbled. Little did he know who he was gonna see there…

…

"Amy! Miss Rouge! Come in!" A cheerful, cute little rabbit opened the door for Rouge and Amy to set inside. Rouge had been having a sneezing fit.

"So where are the lights?" Amy asked. Cream tugged out a huge box and smiled.

"The ladder's outside."

"Pff ladder?" Rouge scoffed, "Who needs a ladder when you got wings?" She flexed her bat wings out, earning a 'wow!' from Cream and a sigh from Amy.

"Show off all you want Rouge, but Sonic went to his house to get some nails and Knuckles should be meeting up with him and coming over here aaaannyyy second now!"  
The grin fell off of Rouge's face and hit the floor.  
_Knuckles _was coming here? Knuckles was _coming_ here?

Knuckles was coming _here._

Oh, what else could go wrong? Hmm, well maybe he would accuse her of sleeping around with everyone, refuse to go out with her, and then she would order her moustache from Ebay and get a ticket to Puerto Rico, where she could own a club and forget she was ever in love with that Knucklehead!  
_I am not in love with him! I just don't want him thinking of me badly!_

"Why not? He's always thought you were a thief!" Did she say that out loud?

"Not helping Amy!" Rouge pouted, "If he thinks I'm a thief that's one thing, but being called a slu-"

"-ah, Rouge?" Amy's eyes darted to Cream and then back to the bat.

"-gde ball then he's wrong! I'm not dirty like that! I wouldn't go that low!" Rouge crossed her arms.

"Why would Mr. Knuckles think Miss Rouge is a sludge ball?" Cream asked innocently. Amy gave a nervous laugh, only to turn to her friend and reply, "Rouge, why do you care so much?"

"I-I don't!" She snapped, "I just don't want people thinking I'm low! I mean, I'm not low am I? Huh? AM I?" Amy had to push her friend back.

"Relax! I'm sure he doesn't think of you that way! Besides, we said it like a joke! He probably understands it's a joke!"

"…Well…maybe you're right…" Rouge sighed and picked up the box of lights, "Let's go put these up before Knucklehead gets here." They headed outside in the snowy weather while Cream stayed inside by the window, so she could plug the lights into the outlet. Amy pulled up the latter and climbed until she was by the gutters, and Rouge flew up and handed her the lights.

"There's some nails left here from last year, so we can put the lights up here." Rouge nodded at Amy's words, and the both of them began decorating the outside of Cream's house, though Rouge's mind wasn't focusing much on the decorating. How could anyone focus on the decorating when their love probably thought they were sleeping with other people?

"-ouge? Rouge!"

"Huh?" Rouge blinked, only to see Amy with a sly smile on her face.

"You're thinking about him."

"Who? Knucklehead? Yeah right! Keep dreamin' honey!" Rouge hid her face and went back to her work.

"Why don't you just explain it to Knuckles when he gets here?"

"I guess I will…"

"Do you like him?" Amy had to suppress a giggle as Rouge nearly fell out of the air upon hearing those words.

"No!" Rouge sneezed right afterward, and pulled a tissue out of her pocket.

"Rouge, I know. I used to look the way you looked a couple seconds ago when I dreamed about Sonic." Rouge flew up and sat on the gutter before sighing and closing her eyes.

"Don't tell anyone."

"I won't. But!" A devious smirk wormed its way into the pink hedgehog's face, "You have to let me hook you up with him!"

"What?" Rouge jumped in surprise and fell off of the gutter, but she flew back into the air, "As if! Sweetie, you can't even get yourself hooked up with Sonic!"

"Oh really?" Amy took some snow off of the roof and threw it at her laughing friend, "How about this? I'll try to set you up with Knuckles, and you try to set me up with Sonic. Whoever sets the other one up first before Christmas gets…"

"A vacation to the Caribbean! Paid by the other person!" Rouge grinned, her fangs gleaming. She and Amy shook on their deal and got back to work.

"By the way, where's Shadow?" Amy glanced over at her friend in curiosity.

"He's at home wrapping his own presents."

"Hmm…hey, what did you get Knuckles?" Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not telling honey!"

"Telling what?" Rouge whipped around to see Sonic and Knuckles walking up to the house. Rouge blushed; how was she gonna explain everything to the grumpy echidna?

"Er…nothing," Rouge flew down and handed Sonic a roll of lights, "Go set that up on that tree."

"But can't you do it fas-" Sonic saw Rouge eyeing Knuckles nervously, causing him to smirk, "Oh, can't wait to be alone, huh? I get it." Sonic ran as soon as Knuckles shot him a glare, and then they were alone.

"Hey, Knuckie!" Rouge said less than enthusiastically. Knuckle crossed his arms and scowled.

"What do you want, Bat-girl? I see you've regained your voice." Not that he cared. Wow, a lot of people seem to be that way.

"Yeah, but my cold's not totally over…" Rouge sniffled and then averted her gaze, "Anyways, I know Sonic told you that Shadow was over my house but-"

"Look, it's none of my business who you go out with in your spare time. I don't even care." Knuckles may have been trying to hide his denial, but Rouge was hurt by his comment.

"Why are you so insensitive? I'm trying to tell you the truth and all I hear is, 'I don't care Rouge, it's not my business, rouge'!" Knuckles glared at her.

"Because I don't care! Why do you always have to start a fight?"

"I'm not, smart one! I'm just trying to tell you that Shadow was only at my house 'cuz he carried my bags home! He couldn't leave because he was snowed in!" Rouge shouted.

"…Oh." Knuckles couldn't help but be relieved. Rouge wasn't with Shadow!

Wait…why was he relieved? He didn't like Bat-girl!

"Don't believe everything Blue Boy says." Rouge spoke with a warning tone.

"Sorry…" He was so quiet when he said that Rouge didn't hear him.

"Whatever. Just help me get these light u-u-u-ACHOO!" Oh, she was so miserable being sick!

"Miss Rouge, would you like some tea?" Cream invited her inside and Amy got off of the ladder and went over to Knuckles.

"Go in and see if she's okay Knuckles!"

"But I-"

"Knuckles," Amy pulled out her hammer, "What did I just say?"

"R-right!" He hurried inside to see Rouge sitting down at the kitchen table with some tea and a box of tissues, while Cream was putting on her gloves to go outside. He sat down on the other side of the table.

"Amy wanted me to ask if you were okay…"

"Aww, is Knuckie-wuckie concerned about me?" Knuckles turned bright red as Rouge gave a dry laugh.

"N-no! I don't care about you! Amy was the one who sent me in here!" Cream, who was listening, jumped into the conversation.

"Mr. Knuckles, why do you think Miss Rouge is a sludge ball?"

"_What?" _Both of them asked as they stared at her in shock.

"Miss Rouge thought you would think she's a sludge ball because Mr. Shadow stayed over her hou-"

"Cream, why don't you go outside?" Rouge jumped up and hurried the rabbit out the door. As soon as she left, Rouge sighed and turned around to grab her tea.

"Rouge…"

"What? Forget what she said, she has no idea what she's talkin' about." She replied bitterly as she drank her tea.

"I…don't hate you."

Huh?  
Rouge looked up to see Knuckles with a blank expression on his face. Was he serious?

"I mean, I-I don't c-care about you, but I don't hate you…"

Rouge simply stayed silent.

"That whole Shadow thing was a misunderstanding on my part, so let's just forget about it, alright?" Knuckles looked sincerely at her, and Rouge gave the hint of a smile.

"Why no-ACHOO!" Rouge turned away from him and sniffled. Why couldn't this cold be over with?

"Here."

Rouge turned to see Knuckles handing her a tissue. She gave a faint smile and took it.

"Thanks…"

As Rouge used the tissue, Amy, Sonic, and Cream had their faces glued to the window.

"Rouge is so gonna lose this bet!" Amy grinned.

…

**Author's Note: Hey! Chapter 2! I hope I can make the next chapters more exciting! I wonder how this contest between Amy and Rouge is gonna go…? Thanks for your reviews and favs everyone!**


	3. Two Trees for Rouge!

"-Gotta help me make some Christmas cookies-"

"-Need to be at the mall by eight to help-"

"-Get the Christmas tree 'cuz Sonic and Knuckles are going to the mall-"

"-and put out some carrots for the reindeer-"

"-you still need to wrap those presents-"

"-send out invites for the party-"

"-help me set up my tree-"

"-and make some party food-"

"-gotta set up _your own_ tree-"

"-and go caroling with me!"  
Rouge blinked at the answering machine.

GAH! MAKE IT STOP!

She yanked the cord out of the outlet and stuffed the answering machine under her couch.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Rouge cried out in frustration. Why did it seem like she started everyday screaming?

"T-there's too much to do before Christmas and not enough time!" She frantically gripped her fur as she mentally played the messages in her head. She must've had about fifty of them; all her friends asking her to do something when she didn't have the time to!

Christmas by herself was getting to be a better idea every minute she thought of it.

Practically everyone in the world needed something from her! Sonic and Knuckles just _had _to go to the mall to get Black Ops from GameStop (and Just Dance 2 for Amy's party), which meant that she, meaning Rouge the_ overtired_ Bat had to go get the Christmas tree! Oh, and Amy _insisted _the tree be huge. Like, giant. Like, as big as Tia Dalma grew in Pirates of the Caribbean.

As if that wasn't enough, a million other people wanted things from her. She couldn't even think of it all; there were that many.

How about going out, buying some Twizzlers and ice cream, and chilling on her couch watching 'A Christmas Story' and 'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days' by the Christmas tree? Now that sounded like a Christmas!  
"RIIING!"  
"ARGH!" Rouge tore the phone away from the wall and slammed it to her ear, "WHAT?"  
"Geez, what's wrong with you?" Oh yay. It was Amy. The girl who made it her life to load all of her Christmas chores onto Rouge.

The irritated bat took a deep breath and exhaled to calm herself down. "Nothing. What is it now, Amy? I'm really busy." Heck, she was probably busier than the president!

"Um, can you go pick up the Christmas tree? I need-"

"Can't Sonic and Knuckles do that?" Rouge bit her tongue as she thought of what she would say to the boys if she saw them.

"Well, they're busy right now, and Sonic needs to go to his costume fitting to play Santa. I think Knuckles might go get the tree, but it's really a two person thing. He can't lift it by himself!"  
Yeah right!  
"Listen Amy, if this is a part of your plan to win that bet by getting me and Knuckles alone, just know that I'm onto you!" The only thing that could save her Christmas was that trip. She needed that trip (and a manicure, but she could do that while she's there).

"If you don't do it, I'll give Knuckles a picture of you and Shadow going swimsuit shopping at the mall and tell him you two were on a daaaaate!"  
"T-that's blackmail!" Rouge panicked, "We weren't on a date! We accidentally bumped into each other!"  
"Try telling that to Knuckles!"  
"OH, whatever! I'll get the tree, but know that I'm gonna win this bet Amy!" Rouge hung up and scowled. Keep your cool, Rouge. You're a master jewel thief, remember? And Amy's still young; she has no clue about love! You on the other hand; you got experience being a professional matchmaker! You totally got this thing down!  
_"Psh. One week? I can get Amy and Sonic together in three days!"_

With a renewed sense of confidence, she grabbed her coat and left.

…

"Fresh trees! Get your fresh trees here!"  
Rouge landed on the sidewalk where a man had been selling all different kinds of Christmas trees; tall, short, fat, skinny, Charlie-Brown style…they were all set up on wooden stands with price tags attached to them. Rouge examined how big they were and sighed.

"Well, I don't know how I'm gonna get this back to Amy's house, but maybe I could call up Shadow to pick it up for me…"

"What are you talking about, Bat Girl?" Rouge turned to see Knuckles standing there with an annoyed look on his face, as if to say, 'I'd rather be doing something else right now than be here with you.'

Rouge smirked as an idea popped into her head. It was the holidays, so time for some fun!  
"I was just thinking about how _strong _Shadow is. I mean, I know he could lift those trees with no problem at all!" To her amusement, Knuckles fumed and crossed his arms.

"Oh yeah? Well I could probably carry it with one hand tied behind my back!" Why did she have to go talking about Shadow? What did he have that Knuckles didn't have?  
"Prove it then, big boy."

"Fine! Let's pick out a tree first!" The grumpy echidna wakled beside Rouge as they toured the trees, looking for one Amy would like.  
"How about this one?" Rouge pointed at a collossal pine tree. Knuckles walked up to it and with a swift move he hoisted it into in arm, although he heard a 'crack!' somewhere.

"See? I can pick this up!"  
"Really? Well then, I'll pay for it, and you go bring it to Amy's!" Oh, life was sweet. Knuckles nodded and walked to the crosswalk wihile Rouge smiled and paid for the tree. Now all she needed was one for herself. Hmm…a small one maybe? What about a nice Charlie-Brown Tree? It wouldn't take much decorating or anything…

Rouge walked up to a poor abandoned tree no bigger than her. It was very cute, though when she shook it needles rained upon the ground. It was strong enough to hold the decorations at least. She lifted it up with only a little difficulty and paid for that tree as well.

"WAIT A SECOND! WHY AM I CARRYING THIS?"  
"Wow! You just figured that out Knuxie?" Rouge snickered as she caught up to him. He glared at her, purple eyes narrowing at the sly bat.

"I can't stand you, you know that?"  
"Glad to hear it Knuckles!" That just meant she was just one step closer to that trip.

"Can't you help me carry this?" Knuckles grunted.

"Nope! I have my own tree to carry. Besides," She winked at him, causing him to blush, "You're _strong!_ I'm sure a guy like you would be fine carrying that!"

"Whatever!" Knuckles looked away with his face turning red, though Rouge's tree caused him to look at her from the corner of his eye. That was a pretty wimpy tree, to be honest. Why the heck did she choose that one?  
"What's up with your tree?"  
"Hm? What are you talking about?" Rouge blinked.  
"That tree…looks a little…bad." Rouge's eye twitched.

"Just because a tree is small doesn't mean it's bad! It's the meaning behind it that counts, Knucklehead!"  
"So what's the meaning behind your tree?"  
"It means I want a nice, quiet, humble Christmas! No crazy parties, no more lists of things to do; just me, this tree, some cocoa, and some chick flicks." Rouge kept her eyes focused on the road ahead of her while Knuckles stared at her.

"You don't want to go to Amy's party?" Oh man.

"Well…it's not that I don't want to go…" Rouge grew uneasy, "I've just been so busy trying to get all these things done before Christmas that I think a nice relaxing Christmas would be good…" A relaxing Christmas in the Caribbean, anyways! Hopefully Knuckles wouldn't tell Amy; she didn't want an angry hedgehog added to her stress.

"A quiet Christmas, huh?" Knuckles pondered the thought, "Doesn't sound that bad."  
"You can join me if you want." Rouge gave him a smirk. She wasn't supposed to get close to him because of the bet, but hey, she could have some fun right? Besides, she was just joking; she wanted to enjoy Christmas her way, and not worry about getting food and drinks for other people.

"I might just do that."  
What? _What? _Rouge's blue eyes grew wide with shock. She was just kidding! Did he really want to spend Christmas with her?  
The thought made her grow warm…

No! She was not losing this bet! She wanted to spend New Year's on a nice golden beach watching the sun set from underneath a Christmas tree.

"W-Why would you say that?" The words accidentally slipped from her mouth, but Knuckles didn't notice her shock.

"I just think…being with one friend on Christmas rather than at a crazy party with half the world invited is better. This year's been kinda stressful. I think a quiet Christmas would be a good remedy for that." As they reached Amy's house, Rouge mulled over his words.  
She was his friend! He was lying when he said he hated her! See, she knew she was right! Way to go, Rouge!  
GAH! NO!

This bet was reeeeallly getting her confused.

"YAY!" A pink hedgehog leapt out of her house to hold the door open for her friends, "You got the tree! Now you two can set it up while I try to get this turkey recipe right!" As soon as they were in, Amy slammed the door shut and ran for the kitchen, where a giant uncooked turkey was resting on a large glass pan.

"Where should we put the tree?" Rouge shouted from the living room.  
"In the corner next to the window!" Amy shouted back as she read the recipe. Hmm, stuff something in to the turkey, then rub something on it, then something something something.

Amy smiled. Maybe she'd get Rouge's help.

"Rouge!"  
"What?" Rouge was currently helping Knuckles put the tree down. Both of them had their arms around the large thing while Rouge's tree sat behind her. It was like she was giving him an indirect hug!  
Rouge dropped the tree.

"AH!"  
"Oh!" Really, she dropped it on his foot, "Sorry!"  
"R-Rouge! The stand hit my foot!"  
"Well then, wear some boots!" Rouge replied as she walked away and into the kitchen, where a frowning Amy stood reading the recipe.

"I don't understand this…Can you prepare the turkey while I try making the drinks?"  
"It's not Christmas yet, honey. Why are we doing this?" Rouge picked up the paper and glanced at it.

"I wanna perfect everything for the party!" Oh. Right. Well, let's see what this recipe says. Take the basil and thyme leaves and something something something.

Rouge read the paper apathetically and then tossed it. Whatever. She'll just take all the stuff she saw on the plate next to her and stuff it in the turkey.

Grabbing all of the spices and herbs, she jammed them into the turkey and then grabbed a nearby spice bottle with a reddish brown powder inside of it.

"Hmm…some cumin…" She poured cumin everywhere on the turkey before going to wash her hands, "All done Amy."  
"Well, that was fast! Alright, so I'll put this in the oven and let it cook for two hours…and then we'll see how it tastes!"  
Rouge was not the best cook in the world. Good thing she'd be outta there in the next two hours.

"In the meantime, here are the decorations," Amy picked up a box from off of the table, "Start decorating the tree!"  
"Can't Knuxie do that?"

"He can for a low price of _blackmail_." Amy said with an innocent smile. Rouge sighed and walked into the living room, where Knuckles had been examining the stand on the tree. As Rouge set the box down, Knuckles attempted to straighten out the tree to stop it from leaning, though when he stood up to see if it was, the stand wobbled and the tree fell over on him.  
"AH!"  
"OW! Knuckles! What do you think you're doing?" Rouge shouted from underneath him. The tree had fallen on him, which caused him to fall on her, which made her hit the ground. It was a giant Christmas sandwich!  
"I was just trying to fix its posture!"  
"Can you get off of me?"

"Can you not yell in my ear?"  
"Well, it would be in your ear if you GOT OFF OF ME!" Knuckles raised his head, only to see how close he was to her. They were inches apart, with Rouge blushing (although scowling) and him equally red.

*Click!*

"Huh?" They looked up, only to see Amy with a camera.

"You two won't forget this Christmas!"  
"AMY!" They both yelled. Knuckles shoved himself off of Rouge, causing the tree to roll over and hit Rouge's smaller one, crushing it.

"Get back here Amy!"  
"Urgh…" Rouge pushed herself up and rubbed her head, though as her gaze fell upon her tree she let out a shriek.

"MY TREE!"

Knuckles and Amy froze as they looked at the wide-eyed bat, who was staring at the broken tree as if the world had ended.

The poor thing broke under the weight of Amy's tree.

"…Rouge?" Knuckles spoke quietly, hoping to not stir her anger. The bat simply looked sadly at her tree and just kept thinking about how this Christmas was not going her way.

But there was no point sulking about it.

Rouge got up quietly, picked up Amy's tree, steadied it, and began placing ornaments on it, all the while staying silent. Though she didn't speak a word, her face said it all; there was sadness in her blue eyes, which simply looked shocked, beyond belief. After Amy poked him in the elbow, Knuckles went and began helping Rouge put up the lights and decorations as well, staying as quiet as she was but still watching her expression. Why did he feel bad all of a sudden? It was an accident! Rouge's sad expression only made it worse!  
Eventually, everything was set up, and when they finished the bat threw on her coat.

"Where are you going?" Knuckles asked softly. Rouge didn't answer, however. She simply grabbed her broken tree and walked out of the house.

"Hey guys, I made some cookies-wait, where's Rouge?" Amy walked in from the kitchen to see her friend was missing. Knuckles was thinking long and hard about something, and suddenly he jumped up.

"I need to go do something."

…

Nighttime again.

These nights were coming by more quickly. Maybe it was because of the stress, or maybe it was because of the season, but nonetheless evening came.

This evening was surprisingly quiet, with nothing but the snow fall to be heard outside. Rouge was just sitting in her house with a cup of cocoa in one hand and a tissue in the other.

She wasn't going to cry. She really wasn't. Her cold just wasn't over yet.

The tree lay outside her house, broken. It wasn't the tree she was sad about. It was the fact that everything about her Christmas wasn't working out.

Well, she was sad about the tree. She was looking forward to decorating it and actually having some fun. In reality however, she was really confused about the bet.

Did she…like Knuckles? In the solitude of her home her mind began exploring these thoughts, confortable with the knowledge that no one was around to know but her.

"_I…I might like Knuckles…but I can't! I want to win that bet!"_ What was more important though; a vacation in the Caribbean, or true love?  
_"I…I don't know! He might not even like me! There's no way he'd like me after everything we've been through…so maybe the trip sounds better…"_

"Ding dong!"  
Who was ringing her doorbell now? Rouge hid the tissue and put the cocoa away as she got up to answer the door. "Who is it?" She asked before she opened.

"It's me."  
WHAT?

What was he doing here? When she thinks about him he suddenly appears out of nowhere! Everything was just confusing her!

"What do you want, Knucklehead?" Rouge asked behind the door. She was still sore about the tree, but she knew it wasn't his fault.

"Open the door."  
"Not until you tell me why you're here!"  
"Just open it so I can put this tree down!" Huh? What was he talking about?  
Rouge opened the door only to see a cute, Charlie-Brown tree, followed by a cold echidna.

"W-What are you doing?" Rouge asked with astonishment. Knuckles went to her living room and placed the tree down beside her couch.

"I'm sorry about your tree," Knuckles rubbed the back of his head and looked awayas he faced her, "It was an accident. So…I got you a new one."  
He…he got her a new one. Knuckles got Rouge a tree...

"Oh," That was all she could really say, since she was still completely surprised, "Thanks…"  
"No problem…You got some decorations?" Why was he so red?

Rouge smiled a genuine smile, causing Knuckles to blush even more. She walked over to her closet and pulled out a bag with ornaments and lights in it. Both of them began setting up the tree. They were silent; however this was a calm silence, one that Rouge appreciated from all of the chaos in her life.

"Hey, Knucklehead, hand me that blue ball."  
"Not until you stop calling me that." Knuckles replied from the other side of the tree, placing a snowman decoration on one of the branches.

"Sorry, honey, that's not happening." Rouge smirked. Knuckles grinned stubbornly.

"Well then, I guess you're not getting it."  
"You better give it to me or else, Knucklehead!"  
"Or else what, Bat-girl?"  
"Or else THIS!" The ivory bat pounced on him and began to tickle him like crazy, which she had done many times in the past. Knuckles rolled around in laughter as her fingertips danced up and down his sides.

"S-Stop! R-Rouge! Hahahahaha! Stop-hahahaha!" Tears squeezed out of his eyes and soon he began tickling her too.  
"Not-hahahaha-until you give me that blue ball! Hahahaha-stop! Pfffhahaha-Knucklehead!"  
Their laughter joined the sound of the falling snow. The bet didn't matter at the moment, for she was to busy getting some holiday cheer.

Finally things were looking up!

…

**Author's Note: That didn't take as long to write as the other chapters, but it was very fun! Thanks for your reviews everyone! By the way, for those of you who don't know, a 'Charlie-Brown Tree' is a small skimpy tree which sheds a lot of needles :D but they're cute! Thanks for your reviews! You shall get an invisible Charlie-Brown Tree!**


	4. Blaze's gossip and Rouge's decision

The sands were warm.

Golden sands on a peaceful, quiet beach that stretched on for miles. No one else on the beach either; just her…

She took a sip of her juice and turned over in the sand, so the warmth from the sun hugged her back. Nearby stood a palm tree with its leaves gently swaying in the light winds. It overlooked the beach, the bat sighing contentedly in the sands, and the crystal waves rushing upon the shore, then gently swishing back, creating soothing, calming sounds that drifted softly over to the bats sensitive ears.  
Peace. There was peace.

"-ouge? Rouge! Hey wake up!"  
"Huh?" Rouge snapped her eyes open.  
Guess where she was. Not in the Caribbean!  
"You gotta stop daydreaming!" Sonic replied as he stuffed a Santa hat on his head. Rouge had apparently fallen into a deep daydream when she looked over at a giant poster in a store that looked like a clear day in the Bahamas. However, instead of being on the warm island, she was in the mall dressed up as an elf; a feathered hat, a long green jacket that hugged her curves, candy cane stockings (white and red stripes, goodness help her) and knee-high pointy green boots (which weren't that bad, since she needed some boots anyways.

"Hey there, babe!" A couple teenage guys walked by, "Can I take a picture of you? I want Santa to know exactly what I want for Christmas!" Rouge rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Sorry, I don't think you boys could handle this." Rouge replied slyly, "Now why don't you go play with your toys like good little children?" The guys wore smirks on their faces as Rouge turned around and walked into the center of the mall which was enclosed with a tiny fence. Tons of white stuffing, like the kind in pillows, was lying all around the place with glitter sprinkled on them, like snow. Tons of little kids were lined up for Santa, with the Santa here being Sonic in a red suit and a beard. The hedgehog sat in a throne-like chair surrounded by candy canes and presents and paper snowflakes. A giant Christmas tree stood behind him, the top nearly level with the second floor.

"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! What is your name little girl?" As Sonic got little kids to sit on his lap and ask them what they wanted for Christmas, Rouge stood by with bagfuls of candy canes, handing one to each kid as they left. It wasn't that bad; it was actually kind of fun. At least none of her friends were here to see this (except Sonic). However, Rouge's mind was occupied with confusing questions.

"_I need to stay away from Knuckles. I can't get to close to him or else I'm gonna lose that bet!"_

She handed a couple candy canes out and then sighed.

"_But…what's more important…getting with Knuckles, or getting that trip? But then again, there's a tiny chance of getting together with Knuckles, right? Compared to going on that trip, anyways…"_

More candy canes were given out to the cheerful little children as Rouge regained her confidence.

"_I'm Rouge the Bat! I'm a thief! I can't give up on Knuckles! This Christmas is gonna go my way! Besides, he likes me as a friend, and that's a start!" _Maybe…maybe she had a chance with him!  
"Rouge? Rouge, is that you?"  
"Hm?" The bat looked up to see a light purple cat with a heavy winter coat and tons of shopping bags on her arms.

"Blaze! W-what are you doing here?"  
"Shopping." Blaze replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. However, after seeing her outfit, the cat couldn't help but grin.

"You look nice."  
"Oh, shut up." Rouge grinned as her friend let out a couple snickers, "I had to do this! Sonic talked me into it. Besides I'm getting paid and I need the money to go shopping." Blaze tilted her head questioningly.

"When are you getting off?"  
"About three. Are you still gonna be around?"  
"Yeah. I'll wait for you and we can go shopping together." Rouge nodded happily. Amy may have been a little wild sometimes, but Blaze was a bit more level headed. She could give her some good advice on this whole thing!

"I'll see you later, Rouge!"  
"Bye honey!" Rouge turned to the littled kids who were waiting patiently for a candy cane and handed out some of the minty treat. There was no doubt about it; she would go after Knuckles! They had already gotten past all of the arguing and were now friends. So who knows? Maybe they could be something more!

…

"Ho, ho, ho! Santa will get you a niiiiice football! Merry Christmas!" Sonic sighed and wiped his brow after the last kid got his candy cane and walked away. It was finally three o'clock, and Rouge had taken off her hat and looked at Sonic.

"You know blue boy, Amy likes you a lot."  
"Uh," What did that have to do with anything, "I kinda know that already."  
"Yeah but did you know…that fox-boy's got something going on with her?" Rouge grinned. This would be pretty easy, since Sonic dropped his Santa hat in surprise as his eyes boggled.

"Tails? Are you trying to tell me that my best friend is hitting on Amy?"  
"Well, don't tell anyone you heard it from me!" Rouge replied with a smirk.  
"I….I don't believe you!"  
"Really? Well, if I'm not mistaken, Tails hasn't been around any of us that much. Probably because he spends some alone time with Amy." Honestly, she didn't hate Tails. She just wanted that Caribbean trip.

"Oh my gosh. No way! Thanks for telling me, Rouge! I'll see you tomorrow!" Sonic zoomed out of there, causing the bat to laugh to herself. Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. When Amy finds out Sonic was jealous since he thought Tails was dating her, she would jump to conclusions and fall in love.

"_Well, I gotta go spend this money!" _ Rouge walked into the nearest department store to change into some normal clothes. As soon as she got out,she whipped out her phone and called Blaze.

"Hey Blaze, I'm done. Where are you?"  
"By Macy's."  
"Really?" Rouge turned around to see Blaze hanging out by the entrance of the store she just came out of. She smiled to herself, hung up the phone, and walked over to the cat.

"Oh, there you are."

"Yeah, thought I hung up on ya, huh? No, I just saw you from over there." Rouge stuck a thumb over her shoulder, "So how have things been for you?" They began walking and talking at the same time, with the occasional glances at the shops nearby.

"Things have been alright. Nothing new really." Blaze replied, "What about you?"  
"Eh, things are crazy. I'm so tired with everything that's been going on. Did you hear about my bet with Amy?" Blaze nodded.

"Yeah, she told me. But I think you would win, what with all that's going on with Knuckles and Julie-Su-"

WHAT?

"What are you talking about? What's going on between Knucklehead and that dumb echidna girl?"  
"Well…" Blaze hesitated, unsure of what reaction her friend would have, "I…heard from Amy that Knuckles asked Julie-Su to hang out at the mall sometime this week. I think she said they're dating."  
…Knuckles was going out with Julie-Su.

Everything; all of her confidence, all of the time she spent, everything that had happened over the passed years…from the very first moment she met him up until now…it didn't mean anything.

She was just a friend. Maybe not even. Maybe Amy told him to get her a tree and cheer her up.

"_I can't believe it."  
_Rouge's life was hard. She taught herself to always expect the worst. That was how she survived when working for G.U.N. Her job there taught her tough love.

A voice spoke to her in her mind.

"_He never liked you, Rouge. You were never anything to Knuckles except a thief. You're better off taking that vacation and leaving."_

But…she didn't want to give up! Rouge the Bat _never _gave up!

However…she would never be like Julie-Su to Knuckles. Rouge would always be too busy with work to be his girlfriend.

"_Besides…if he wasn't yours to begin with…then maybe you should just let him go." _She didn't want to have to make Knuckles fall in love with her. It just wouldn't seem true that way.

She was finished.

"_It's just me from now on. Just me. I guess I'll just have to get Amy together with Sonic, go on my trip to the Caribbean, and then go back to missions at G.U.N." _ Looking at it now, Rouge's life was tailored for a loner. It was dangerous. It was time consuming. It was a one-person thing. Though the pay was high, she never even had time to spend her money.

Julie-Su on the other hand…

"_It doesn't matter. I knew it wasn't going to work out in the first place." _Rouge knew long before she made the bet with Amy it wouldn't work out between her and Knuckles. It was one of those things where maybe in another life, if things had been different, it could've worked out. But not in this life.

In this life, the circumstances were different. In this life, Rouge just couldn't get with Knuckles.

A tear pricked the corner of her eye, but she wiped it immediately. She wasn't going to cry. She knew that things were too good to be true. That was just how life was.

"Rouge… are you okay?" Her friend asked softly, and Rouge simply sighed and closed her eyes.

"…I'm hungry." She murmured. In reality, the bat wanted to have a meal to get her mind off of this.

"Well…um…why don't we go over there to the food court and I'll get us some Chinese? You just sit down and wait." Blaze hurried her friend over to the crowded area and sat her down at one of the tables while she took off in the direction of an Asian restaurant. Rouge's empty eyes stared at the table as she sat down. She couldn't focus on anything really. Nothing seemed to matter anymore.

If things were different, she would've stolen Knuckles from Julie-Su. But she and Julie-Su were two different people. Rouge didn't want to act like someone else in order to get a guy to like her. She wanted Knuckles to like her for who she was.  
For once in her life, she wanted something truthful. Something meaningful.

But these were things she hadn't had for the majority of her life. She always had to lie while on missions. And her job was dangerous; meaning anyone close to her could get in danger too. Amy frequently got in danger since she knew Sonic, and Eggman thought she was his girlfriend. So if she went out with Knuckles…even though she knew Knuckles could take care of himself…she wouldn't want to put him in a dangerous situation. Besides, he had his own duties, like taking care of the Master Emerald. She didn't want to add fighting off G.U.N. enemies on top of that.

That was why she never had a long-term relationship. Her life just got in the way.

Rouge closed her eyes and listened to the familiar Christmas tune playing in the mall; Jingle Bells.

"Jingle bells, Jingle bells, jingle all the way…" She whispered to herself.

"Rouge," She opened her eyes to see Blaze placing a tray of food in front of her, "Here."  
"Thanks sweetie." She picked up the fork as her friend sat down and threw her a concerned look.

"Are you okay?"  
"Hm?" Rouge looked up.

"Are you okay?"  
"I'm fine…well…" She sighed. Blaze was her best friend, and though she got a little bit of a temper sometimes, she mainly gave good advice, listened well, and was a great friend. Rouge couldn't help but pour out all that she felt to the cat. She told her about what happened to her and Knuckles over the past couple of days and how she felt they were friends and how the news of Julie-Su made her want to forget about Knuckles altogether.

"Just this morning I was thinking of distancing myself from Knuxie so I could win the bet I made with Amy but I takled myself out because I thought being with Knucklehead would be better." Rouge's depressed gaze fell upon her plate of chicken.

"So after hearing about Julie-Su and Knuckles…you've given up on Knuckles?" Blaze wondered aloud. Rouge nodded with a sigh.

"I'm a loner, Blaze. Things just won't work out. I don't want to hurt him, but I don't want to make him leave that echidna girl. I mean, I've made guys fall in love with me before for missions, but they only liked me for my body or my jewels. It's not worth it if Knuckles liked me like that. I should have known something like this would happen. I shouldn't have let myself get so close to him." Rouge put her fork down and clutched her head.

"Don't worry, Rouge, I'm sure things will get better!" Blaze comforted her friend to no avail though. Rouge just shook her head, causing Blaze to feel a little depressed herself. Rouge really did care about Knuckles; she could tell. Maybe, after not having her Christmas go the way she wanted to, Rouge had given up.

"You know…I think I'm just going to avoid Knuckles. I need to forget about him."  
"Don't worry yourself so much," Blaze replied softly, "Why don't you clear your head and eat a little? You'll feel better when you're full."  
"…Thanks Blaze." At least she still had a great friend in the cat sitting across from her. Rouge picked up the fork and began eating her chicken.

Even as she thought of the trip, Rouge realized it didn't mean as much to her as Knuckles did.

…

**Author's note: I hate being so cruel! I feel like I'm being really mean with all this angst and stuff, but I guess Rouge's loner life might not have room for a relationship, if you think about it from her point of view. BTW I don't really like Julie-Su that much ;) just in case you were wondering! Anyways, just a couple of chapters left! I hope you guys are enjoying your holidays, and thank you for your reviews!**


	5. The fight

"RIIING!"  
"Hello?" Sonic, who was over at Amy's house helping her get the party stuff set up, picked up the phone and squished it in between his hear and his shoulder as he tried to untangle the cord of Amy's boombox.

"Hey."  
"Knucklehead! What a surprise! I thought you fell off the face of the planet since you haven't called in a while!"  
"It's been a day Sonic!" The echidna replied in annoyance, "And don't call me that!"  
"Whatever. How's life going? I heard you chilled with Rouge the other night and then asked out Julie-Su the next day! My, you've been busy haven't you?" Sonic grinned as his friend growled in irritation.

"For your information, I just asked Julie-Su to go to the mall with me to help me pick out a present for Rouge! I don't know what to get women for Christmas!"

"Really? Why didn't you just ask Amy to help you?" Sonic spoke calmly.  
"Because she'd tell Bat-girl what I got her!" Really, Sonic! You'd think he would think of these things!  
"What about Blaze?"  
"I haven't seen Blaze in months!" Knuckles protested, "I know she came yesterday, but I didn't have the time to meet up with her. So I just went and asked Julie-Su for some help."

"Right. I'm sure. You're a player, Knuckles. Oh, and tell Rouge, or should I say 'girlfriend number one' that I found out about Tails and Amy yesterday and let her know I'm onto her! I don't know what she's trying to pull, but she can't fool Sonic the Hedgehog!" Knuckles could only raise an eyebrow at this.

"First of all, she is NOT my girlfriend! I don't have a girlfriend!"  
"Aww, isn't that sad?"  
"SECOND OF ALL!" Knuckles shouted in the phone, "I have no clue what you're talking about! So why don't you telll her yourself?"  
"Cuz I'm with Amy right now setting up for the party!"  
"But that's in two days…"  
"So? Just come over and help us out. We need all the help we can get for all this stuff." Sonic glanced at the tangled boombox cord once more.

"Whatever…I guess I'll go over there…"  
"Besides, girlfriend number one is coming over right now. I'm sure you'd like to see her!" Sonic began laughing as Knuckles yelled at him on the phone and eventually hung up.

"Who were you talking to?" Amy came out of the kitchen with a glass of water as Sonic wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Just Knucklehead!" He's pretty funny sometimes…"

"Yeah, but I don't know how he and Rouge are gonna get along when they're here…" Amy's mind lit up like a light bulb. This was a great time for her to try to get them together!  
Oh wait…Knuckles was going out with Julie-Su.

Oh darn.

Well, as long as Rouge didn't know about it, maybe she and Sonic could flirt a little before she came!  
"Oh, Sonic, it's so cute that you were jealous of Tails over me!" She launched after him to give him a hug, to which his laughing stopped and he suddenly began blushing.

Where was Rouge when you need her?

"Knock knock!"  
Oh. Never mind.

Amy immediately jumped toward the door and pretended nothing was going on. Though instead of seeing sly, flirty Rouge like she normally saw, Amy was surprised to open the door and see a tired, depressed looking bat.

"Rouge? Are you okay?"  
"I'm fine." Rouge sighed, "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Amy opened the door for her friend, who came in with a bag of party food and a present in one hand. She had to just get her mind off of Knuckles, and getting Amy and Sonic together was just the way to do that! As she set her bag down she handed Amy the present with a fake smirk on her face.

"Blue boy forgot your present in the mall when he left, and I just thought I'd give it to you."  
"S-Sonic got me a present?" Amy's face lit up as she received it.  
"I-I got her a present?" Sonic began blushing as he realized what Rouge was trying to do. He liked Amy, but he didn't want to tell her too soon and rush things!  
"Yeah, I saw you go into the Godiva store and I thought if you bought something that expensive for her I should be nice enough to bring it here when you forgot it." Amy's eyes widened even more. He…he bought her something from Godiva! Godiva chocolates! The most expensive chocolate on this earth (no one knows why though).

"Oh, thank you Sonic!" Amy walked up to him and gave him another hug, and while she did Sonic glared at Rouge. What was she trying to do? Did she know he liked Amy? He already had his plans to tell her so he didn't want Rouge ruining them!  
_"Ruining my plans, huh? I'll get her back for this!" _Sonic smirked.

"I'm gonna put this right under the tree!" Amy placed it upon the other presents she got for her friends and then picked up Rouge's bag.  
"I got some soda and chips for the party. Do you need help with anything else?"  
"Yeah, help me make the turkey! Last time you just stuffed things in it and I threw it in the oven and it didn't come out so great…" Amy winced when she thought of the poor burnt turkey, but nonetheless the girls walked into the kitchen as Sonic got over what just happened and began wrestling the boombox cord once again.

"So what's up, Rouge?" Amy asked once they were out of earshot of Sonic, "Why are you so down?"

Rouge sighed and pulled some herbs out of the refrigerator. "I heard Knuckles was dating Julie-Su."  
"Oh…Rouge, I'm sorry…" The pink hedgehog knew it must've hurt. Heck, she would be angry right now if some girl took away Sonic. But why was Rouge seemingly calm about it?  
"You don't seem to mind…" Amy murmured. As they prepared the turkey (in a better way this time, you know, actually following the directions) Rouge told her everythings he told Blaze, and soon Amy began to realize why her friend was so depressed.

"Well…maybe you two could be like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I mean, you don't have to hurt each other, but ou could be one of those dangerous couples!" The thought sounded adventurous, but still it didn't seem like it would work. After all, since when did Knuckles seem like Brad Pitt?

"I don't think so Amy…" She replied as she put the turkey in the oven, "Besides, I guess this means I win the bet huh? There's no chance of me and Knuckles getting together now…"  
Amy glanced at her friend and suddenly understood something important. Rouge would rather have Knuckles than the trip.

Did that mean…she would rather have Sonic than the trip?  
Well…Sonic was very important to her. And being his girlfriend would last longer than the trip…  
"Rouge…um…Do you…want to call off the bet?"  
"What?" Rouge looked up at her friend, "What do you mean?"  
"Um…You can go to the Caribbean. I think you need that trip to cheer you up." A lightbulb went off in her head, and soon she piped up, "But on one condition!"  
"What?" Rouge asked suspiciously. Amy wasn't one to give up things like a romantic vacation very easily, so there must've been some catch.  
"You have to hook me and Sonic up before my party ends on Christmas day." Amy stated matter-of-factly.

Really? That was the catch?  
"I could do that with my eyes closed Amy!" Rouge replied. Not only was she gonna get Sonic and Amy together, but she was going to go on a well deserved trip, forget about Knuckles, and enjoy Christmas her way!  
"Do you really think so?" Amy asked hopefully.

"Honey, let me tell you something," Rouge sauntered over to her friend, "I've had experience. And I have intuition! So don't worry; you and blue boy will be together before you know it! But first…do you have any mistletoe?" She and Amy burst into laughter, and for the first time Rouge didn't feel so bad. She could get over this heartbreak!  
"What're you ladies laughin' about?" Sonic came in with a grin on his face. Amy blushed as the mistletoe idea ran through her head, and Rouge wore a tiny smile.

"Well, did you fix up that boombox?"  
"Yeah, it's totally fixed. I hooked it up and stuff, so it'll be ready for tomorrow."  
"Tomorrow?" Rouge asked. Amy nodded.

"Hello? The party? I'm having one on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Day. That way we can bring presents and then open them the next day!"  
"Oh…" Rouge blinked as she processed the thought. She really wanted to just have a nice Christmas at home!

"I think Rouge's head is in the clouds." Sonic crossed his arms and smirked. Amy smiled back.

"She's just wondering about Brad Pitt."

"What?" Sonic asked in confusion. Rouge shook her head.

"Nothing. C'mon, let's go in the living room and see if the boombox really works!" Rouge ran into the living room to find a cd.  
"But I already told you-AH!" Amy tugged Sonic into the living room as well, where Rouge had popped in a cd and began turning up the volume.

"You are…my fiiiiiiire…the one….desiiiirrrre…." The boombox sang. Rouge burst out laughing as she saw Sonic raise his eyebrows and Amy turning red.  
"Backstreet Boys? Really? Weren't they like, forever ago?"  
"Doesn't mean their songs are any worse now!" Rouge replied, "C'mon Sonic, why don't you dance with Amy?"  
"No!" Sonic immediately shook his head. He didn't want to rush things! Besides, what if Amy went crazy and jumped on him?  
"Aww….Someone's in deeeeniaaal!"  
"Am not! I'm a hero!"  
"Then if you're so brave why don't you dance with her?"  
"Fine!" Sonic grabbed Amy's hands and place them on his shoulders. Soon they began a slow dance to the music, with Amy gazing up at a red Sonic. As they danced, Amy felt her cheeks grow warm. What if he really did like her? She made the right decision trying to lose the bet. Here she was, dancing with the very person she wanted to be with in the first place, all because Rouge really did know how to set people up.  
_"Next time, I shouldn't make bets with Rouge." _Amy smiled and closed her eyes as they swayed to the music.

"Ding Dong!"  
As soon as the moment started, it ended.

Sonic and Amy broke apart as Rouge turned off the music. "Why'd you do that for?" Amy asked.  
"Someone rang the door bell." Bats had better hearing, so what they didn't hear she did. Sonic went over to answer the door as Amy scowled. Whoever ruined her moment with Sonic was gonna get it!

"Oh hey, Knuckles!"  
Rouge dropped the CD case as her mouth hung open in surprise.

Knuckles was here? Why didn't Amy tell her?  
"I didn't know he was coming!" Amy whispered. Oh. Did she say that aloud?  
"I brought over some Tostitos for the party. Does Amy need help bringing the chairs up from the basement?" Knuckles asked as he came in. Sonic nodded.

"It'd be a good idea."  
"Hey Knuckles!" Amy smiled.  
"Hi Amy. Hey Rouge." He replied nonchalantly.  
Hey Rouge? _Hey Rouge?  
_She could feel anger boiling up inside of her. All Knuckles could say was, 'Hey Rouge'? Brad Pitt would've said something better if he were talking to Jennifer Aniston!

Well, maybe not, but at least if Brad Pitt said, 'Hey Rouge,' it would sound a lot hotter!

Sonic grinned as he plotted his revenge against Rouge. She tried to ruin his plans with Amy by trying to get him to confess earlier, but it wasn't working!  
"I also brought over some presents since I have a lot and I can't carry them all at once…"  
"Oh really?" Sonic grinned, "Did you buy anything for Rouge? Oops, I mean, girlfirend number one?"  
WHAT?  
WHAT DID THAT HEDGEHOG JUST SAY?  
Rouge was just about ready to take the Backstreet Boys CD and throw it at Sonic.

Knuckles just glared at Sonic. "She's not my girlfriend Sonic!"  
"Oh you mean you wouldn't date Rouge? Why not?"  
"She's not-"

"Not what?" Rouge was mad. She pushed Sonic out of the way and glared at Knuckles.

"Calm down, Bat-gi-"

"Don't call me that! And don't tell me to calm down! What is it, huh? I'm not what? An echidna?"

"Stop interrupting me!"

"Why? What are you gonna do? Go tell your girlfriend Julie-Su?" Rouge hissed. Knuckles glared at her.

"Hey! I don't have a girlfriend!" Rouge put her hands on her hips.  
"First you be all nice to me and try to be my friend, and then you go lying to me and being nice to some other girl!"  
"Hey, I didn't lie to you!"  
"Yeah right!"  
"I DIDN'T LIE!" Knuckles yelled out of frustration. Rouge bit her lip to hold back her tears.

"What kind of games are you trying to play, huh? I should've known someone like you wouldn't care about anything!"  
"Someone like me? At least I'm not a thief who doesn't have a care in the world except for her jewels!" Knuckles shouted.

"Calm down you guys!" Sonic tried to interrupt. He felt bad for causing all of this to happen in the first place, but now it was getting out of hand.

"Can't you two not fight? It's the day before Christmas Eve!" Amy attempted to tug Rouge's wrist, but she snapped it away.

"I care for plenty of things you Knucklehead! I cared about you!"  
What?  
Everyone stared at Rouge in shock as she covered her mouth for a moment. What did she just say?

Knuckles'amethys orbs stared at her as he tried to make sense of what he just heard. She cared about him? Rouge the Bat cared about him?

Rouge didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything, as she was in the middle of choking back a sob. Instead she ran past Knuckles for the door, only to have the echidna grab her wrist.  
"Rouge-"

She yanked it out of his grip and left. She didn't know where she was going, just as long as she wasn't facing the person she loved.

Everything was just over.

Knuckles stood in the living room wondering what just happened. They were great friends one day and now they were angry at each other?  
"What's up with her?" He asked Sonic, "And why did you have to start that fight?"  
"S-Sorry!" Sonic put up his hands in defense. Amy stepped in.

"Look, there's something you don't understand about Rouge!"

"What?" Knuckles snapped, but then softened. He had no reason to yell at Amy.

"Look, Rouge thought you were going out with Julie-Su because I told her."

"What? _Why?" _

"I thought you two were! I guess I misunderstood though! I didn't know!"  
"Julie-Su was just helping me get a present for Rouge! That's why we went to the mall!"  
"Why didn't you ask me?" Amy put her hands on her hips. Knuckles rubbed the back of his head.

"Well…I thought you would tell her what I got her…" Amy's jaw was open for a moment. How could he think that she was a blabber mouth?  
"Wow. You are so not like Brad Pitt." Knuckles and Sonic raised their eyebrows.  
"What?" Knuckles asked.  
"Nothing! Anyways…" An idea came into Amy's head. There might be a chance of saving Rouge and Knuckles!  
"What is it?" Knuckles asked expectantly.

"I think you and I need a private talk. Sonic, could you please leave?" Amy looked at Sonic, who shrugged and left to get the chairs from the basement.

"So what's this all about Amy?"  
"Rouge didn't tell you about this, but we made a bet…"

Little did Rouge know what Amy was planning for her. She would make sure her friend got the best Christmas ever!

…

**Author's note: Phew! I wanted to make this a happier chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks for all of your great reviews! I wonder what'll happen to Rouge and Knuckles now…? **


End file.
